In prior journal and thrust bearing designs for generator turbine shafts, the bearings have required substantial quantities of lubricant and contributed to horsepower losses. For example, many bearing designs utilize the lubricant discharged from the journal bearings as the lubricant for flooding the thrust bearings. The flooding of the thrust bearings results in more lubricant flow, high lubricant leakage through conventional end seal assemblies, such as bronze contact seals, and consequent high horsepower losses. Many other designs require a separate pressurized lubricant inlet for the thrust bearings which again requires substantial lubricant flow, introduces a complexity of plumbing and results in additional lubricant leakage. Moreover, standard pedestal bearing packages conventionally operate for only one direction of rotation of the shaft. Thus they cannot accommodate shafts which rotate opposite to the designed rotational direction. Bearing designs must therefore be particularly constructed for shaft rotation in one direction or the other and not both.
Further, in the standard pedestal bearing design, lubricant is typically channeled to a sump before it comes into contact with end deflector seals. This disadvantageously requires substantial additional space and precludes a generally compact bearing design.